When SAS started in May 1990 there were 400 million gallons of crude, untreated sewage being discharged around the coastline every single day. There were no sewage treatment works. Chris Hines was a co-founder and original General Secretary of Surfers Against Sewage. “We knew we had to take our message into the corridors of power and organised this first lobby of the Parliament within ten months of forming".
With a host of media on our shoulders we pulled the Secretary of State for the Environment and shadow spokesman into a debating room in front of camera. He announced a £2 million research fund into the health effects of bathing in sewage-contaminated seawater.
“We need to remember that this is “our house” as much as it anyone else’s. Make your voice heard.”
Strong imagery conveys a powerful message. This type of demo made the front page of the Guardian and countless other media. The SAS (s)Hit Squad of one or two people could travel anywhere in the UK within 24 hours and, meeting local surfers, could create this image and media coverage to support the latest campaigning angle involved in “Intelligent Activism”. These ranged from science, engineering, health, shareholder actions, law, politics and importantly solutions to the problem.”
Chris does many keynote speeches and inspirational talks for all kinds of organisations and companies (not arms or tobacco!) and tells the story of “Intelligent Activism” of SAS through the 1990s and how a bunch of surfers helped change an industry and deliver a £5 billion spend on the clean-up of the UK coastline. Then looking at the massive challenges facing us now, he applies lessons learnt to provoke change and pace to those audiences. “We need to use all the tools and techniques that have helped create this crazy version of the world and use them to create a version where we live in harmony with the planet and each other.”
Chris Hines MBE Hon.D.Sc. X 2
A Grain of Sand
We live in incredibly challenging times. 8.2 billion people on a finite planet and the legacy of a historical trajectory that has and continues to live well outside the planetary boundaries.
We need Intelligent Activism where we use our professional and personal skills to rebalance. We need to use all the tools used to create and drive this out of kilter, crazy version of the world and we need to use those tools to create a positive version of the world where we live in harmony with it, and all who live here.
We need to trust and respect facts and experts and work with science, engineering, law, politics, media and finance to deliver equitable, just solutions for all.
We can all make a difference, individually and collectively. This is as much our world as it is the version that is promoted by those who seem out of touch with the realities of the impacts of runaway, unchecked capitalism and unthinking consumerism.
A Grain of Sand – small irritating but outcomes the odd pearl. Be a Grain of Sand, be a moaning bloody environmentalist, care, love, stand up and be counted. I am one of the 89%! https://89percent.org
Chris has been working and campaigning for the environment for over 35 years and revels in inspiring positive change. He was a Co-founder and then Director of Surfers Against Sewage from 1990 till 2000. Regarded as “some of the Government’s most sophisticated environmental critics” by the BBC and “Britain’s coolest pressure group” by the Independent, the SAS helped deliver massive environmental improvements. Chris was then Sustainability Director at the Eden Project for 5 years. This included conceiving and delivering “Waste Neutral”, an early version of the circular economy and helping embed the triple bottom line of sustainable business practice throughout the organisation. He’s given evidence to the UK parliament, the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, the European Commission, briefed the President of the European Parliament, been a special advisor to the Minister for the Environment and appeared on a wide range of media from BBC World Service and Panorama to CNN.
In 2008 he was awarded an MBE for “services to the environment” in the Queen’s Birthday Honours and an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Plymouth in 2011 and Royal Holloway University in 2025.
Has given presentations to a wide range of groups and organisations including Accenture, Comic Relief, BMW Guggenheim Future Lab, the Dutch Tax Office, Bombay Sapphire, Rock Star Games, the National Grid, RSPCA, RICS and the Global Surf Cities Conference and schools from Wigan to the Hague and Geneva. He now aims to deliver positive change by working with clients with a shared vision. Chris works on strategic planning, communications, leadership and embedding sustainability principles as part of a profitable business, and strongly believes that business must be a force for good in a challenging world…and he still gets plenty of surfing in!
Keynote | Navigating a Sustainable Future Chris Hines MBE, Owner of A Grain of Sand & Former Director of Sustainability for The Eden Project.
Welcome to episode 10 of Better Than We Found It, the go-to podcast for sustainable leadership and purpose-driven business practices. Joining us this week is Chris Hines, the Owner of A grain of sand. Chris was also one of the founders of Surfers Against Sewage, an organisation that many listeners will have heard of.
In this episode, we discuss what communication was like in the 1990s, the power of collaboration, intelligence activism, how Chris affected share prices to deliver environmental change, and of course, how Chris will leave it better than he found it.
Chris talks with marinesocialresponsibility.com in their our #beingthechange series, in which we speak to businesses, charities and individuals who are already doing great things to help improve the health of our oceans and seas, we caught up with Chris Hines MBE, Founder of A Grain of Sand and Founder and Director of Surfers Against Sewage for 10 years.
Chris Hines interviewed by Jade Atkins of SPACE Architects
